Reciprocating saw mill



i (NdMode L) -T. s. WILKIN.

' Reciprocating S M 11 No. 236,968. Patented Jan. 25, I881.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THEODORE S. VVILKIN, OF EAST SAGINAVV, MICHIGAN.

RECIPROCATING SAW MILL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 236,968, dated January25, 1881.

Application filed November 9, 1880.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known thatI, THEODORE S. WILKIN, of East Saginaw, Saginaw county,and State of Michigan, have invented a certain new and usefulImprovement in Saw-Mills, which is herein described in the followingspecification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, inwhich Figure 1 represents a side view of a gangsaw frame and mechanismconnected therewith having my improvement applied thereto,

the gate or sash being shown at its highest point; Fig.2, a sectionalviewlike Fig. 1, showin g saws at their highest point of reciprocation,also showing, by dotted lines, the saws at their extreme forwardmovement.

My invention is designed for saw-mills in which gangs or muleys areused, and relates to a mechanism for producing a vibratory oroscillating movement of the saws during both the downward or laboringstroke and the upward or idle stroke.

The invention consists in the combination of the gate or sash withmechanism whereby it is oscillated or moved forward or backward at thebottom when on th eextreme upward stroke, the construction and operationof which will be hereinafter more fully described, and the specialimprovements pointed out definitely in the claim.

Saws of the class above named hav lmten given an oscillatory movementheretofore o a certain kind for the purpose of moving thesawsbackwardduring the upward or idle stroke to obviate dragging-thatis, interference by the saws with the feed of the log and liftingsawdust-without reference to the downward stroke and resistance of thesaws. The movement referred to has been efiected by oscillating eitherthe upper or lower end of the saw or by moving both ends simultaneously.

, My'improvement consists in so constructing and pivoting the slidewaysas to press the bottom of the saw gradually into the log, keeping thetop of the saw on av'ertical line, or nearly so, until the saws completeone-third of their downward stroke, when the oscillation of the saws isreversed. ,The bottom of the saws recede as they pass down the bottominclined slides, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 2, and the top of thesaws are thrown into the log until the downward stroke is nine-tenthscom- (No model.)

pleted, when the sash and saws recede bodily from the log or out, givingan easy rotary cut at the finish.

To fnlly-illustrate the construction of my improvement, I will refer todrawings.

A represents a portion of the main gangframe, showing only one side towhich m y improvement is attached. The sash or gate a is of ordinaryconstruction, only one side thereof being shown in the drawings, whichis sufficient to illustrate the construction and application of myimprovement. In this sash or gate one or more saws, y, are hung in theusual manner. At bottom of sash the upper end of pitman d is attached,the lower end being connected with wrist-pin e in crank arm or wheel f,provided with crank-shaft g, which is made to revolve in a directionopposite the feed.

However, my improvement is so constructed that the crank-shaft can bereversed and still produce the same movement on the saws.

The upper gang-slides, O, and the lower gangslides, 12, are hung onpivot-pins or other suitable connections. The upper slides, O, are hungat the top It, or nearly so, and the lower slides, 12, are hung at thebottom j, or nearly so, they being attached to gang-frame A. The slidingboxes '5 i are attached to the upper and lower ends of sash or gate a,and are mounted, respectively, in the gang-slides G and b. A rock-shaft,K, is mounted in the gang-frame A in rear of lower ends of gang-slidesO, and projects outside of gang-frame, across which it extends. On therock-shaft, inside the gangframe, are two rock-arms or cranks, U,dependin g from the shaft parallel with each other, and the thirdcrank-arm, I, Fig. 2, being somewhat longer than the rest, is fixed tothe extreme end of rock-shaft K, projecting outside of gangframe andarranged about at right angles to the inside arm, U, projecting forwardfrom the shaft. The upper end of the slab or cheek 1), upon which thelower slides, 11, are attached, is connected with the lower ends ofcrank-arms U by means of a rod, n, or other suitable connection. It isalso connected with lower end of slab or check, upon which the uppergangslides, C, are attached, a rod, 0, or other suitable connectionbeing used for the purpose.

The ordinary mechanism may be employed for producing the oscillatorymovement herein described, as shown by the rock-shafts K and asdescribed, for vibrating the lower end of the upper slides and the upperend of the lower slides, whereby, on'the downward stroke, the saws arepresented to the log on a vertical line and are pressed into the log atthe bottom, after which the bottom recedes and the top is pressedforward to complete the out, leaving the cut at the top much fartheradvanced than at the bottom, substantially as and for the purpose setforth.

THEODORE S. WILKIN. Witnesses:

H. D. WICKES, W. J. WIOKES.

